U.S. Catholic leaders criticize Trump for ‘disparaging words’ about the pope as Vatican clash risks alienating Catholic voters

President Donald Trump’s war of words with Pope Leo XIV has earned a strong rebuke from leading Catholic Church figures at home, and has threatened to splinter a voting bloc he dominated in 2024. 

Catholic bishops and leaders from across the country have spent the week reacting to Trump’s repeated attacks directed at the pope, who last week criticized the president’s plans to target Iranian civil infrastructure as “truly unacceptable.” Earlier in April, during Easter Mass, Pope Leo had made an explicit call for “those who have weapons” to cease hostilities and seek peace.

Trump did not take kindly to the pontiff’s criticisms. In a social media post Sunday, the president called Pope Leo “weak on crime” and framed his views as liberal. Trump also claimed the first American pope elected to the position should be thankful to him, stating: “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

Past conflicts between the president and the pope

This isn’t the first time a U.S. president has verbally sparred with a sitting pope. During his first term, ...